"How could that be?" Yun-Fei lost his confidence when he saw nobody else in the carriage as he believed…

"I told you, Commander. It was just my father and me in the carriage." De-Na-Lan tried to make sure Yun-Fei knew that he believed wrongly. Now she smiled hugely…

"Tsk! They can go!" Yun-Fei ordered the guards to let De-Tong's caravan in after he found no one suspicious in his carriage like he thought he saw…

De-Tong immediately told his men to move onward as soon as he and his daughter went back to the carriage. So, the caravan went on through the city gates…

Yun-Fei could not do anything about it but look at the caravan as they moved away from him until they were out of his sight. He was extremely confused because he was confident that he saw a man with a straw hat over his face in the carriage, which was very suspicious to him. However, he did not see anyone like that when he checked. And he felt nothing in the carriage as well…

In the carriage…

"How did you hide yourself, Master Fu-Zheng?" De-Na-Lan asked Zheng-Fu as soon as the carriage was far away from the city gates…

De-Tong also wanted to know why Commander Yun-Fei did not see Zheng-Fu, even when Zheng-Fu was in his seat in the carriage all the while…

"I can't tell you how, but I can only say that I used some kind of technique." Zheng-Fu did not try to hide anything, but just wanted to withhold a specific detail from the two, even though he felt like he could trust De-Tong and De-Na-Lan…

"That's too bad."

De-Na-Lan was disappointed when she heard the answer, but she knew that she should not press things further. She understood that no one would give this kind of information to anyone easily, but just hoped that Zheng-Fu would tell her…

After the caravan reached the city, Zheng-Fu saw that this city was much bigger than In-See City. And this was just the front city. If a city this big was in Blueland, it would be considered the center city of the country…

There were about two million people who lived in this front city. Most of them were martial artists. It was about sixty percent of the city's population. The rest were merchants, villagers, and farmers. These people also possessed the lower and mid-levels of the Qi Gathering stage, even though they were not martial artists.

De-Tong's caravan finally arrived at a big house, which belonged to his close friend, after passing the city gates for a while. The reason De-Tong came to this city was to sell the goods to his friend…

Rustle!

"We're here!" De-Tong said while smiling at Zheng-Fu. He led everyone out of the carriage. Zheng-Fu was the last one who got out…

"Lan-Er!"

As De-Na-Lan got out of the carriage, she heard someone call her name. The young woman who called her and ran to her was in a tight silk dress. She was pretty and had a beautiful body too…

"Fei-Er!"

When De-Na-Lan heard and saw her friend, she immediately called her friend's name back and ran to hug her. They were both like two children who were happy to see each other after a long while…

"Whoa… How have you been, brother De-Tong? I hope you had a safe trip here." As the two young women finished greeting one another, a soft, wise voice occurred, followed by the appearance of a middle-aged man who looked well to do…

"Greeting, brother Long-Chun-Da!" De-Tong cupped his fist politely while greeting the middle-aged man who had just appeared…

"Come now. You don't have to be so official with me. Please be at ease. So, how was the trip?" Long-Chun-Da waved his hand to urge De-Tong to relax in front of him. They had been close friends for a long time, so there was no need to be too polite to one another. Then he asked De-Tong about the trip to his home…

Then Long-Chun-Da saw someone he had never seen before with the group, so he wondered who the man was. As he was about to ask De-Tong who the man was, De-Tong cut in to say…

"Well… This is Master Fu-Zheng. He helped save us from the Desert Worm Monster. So, I hired him as our protector." De-Tong wanted to tell him everything that Zheng-Fu had done for him, but he decided not to say that much because he remembered that Zheng-Fu did not want him to say anything much about him…

"Helped save you from the Desert Worm Monster!?"

De-Tong's answer startled Long-Chun-Da quite a lot. It also stopped the two young women from chatting to one another…

"Is that so? Greeting, Master Fu-Zheng. It's my pleasure to meet you." Long-Chun-Da rushed to call his mind back before smiling at Zheng-Fu. He did not forget to greet him…

"It's my pleasure to meet you too," Zheng-Fu responded while cupping his fists to pay respect to Long-Chun-Da in a polite manner. Then he turned to De-Tong and said, "Master De-Tong, since you and the caravan have arrived at your destination, you won't be needing my service anymore. So, I have to excuse myself. I hope to see you again.

Goodbye." Zheng-Fu decided to leave the caravan because it had reached its destination. He needed to continue his own journey to get back to Blueland because he wanted to get back to his clan…

"Wait, Master Fu-Zheng! I would like to repay you with a nice dinner. I hope you don't mind." De-Tong rushed to stop Zheng-Fu. He wanted to repay Zheng-Fu for the help…

"Well, about that…"

Grab!

All of a sudden, Zheng-Fu felt the grab on his arm. The person who grabbed him said, "Please stay. Don't go yet. Let us treat you to a nice dinner first." It was De-Na-Lan who stopped Zheng-Fu. She left her friend the minute she heard that Zheng-Fu wanted to leave…

De-Na-Lan's actions made her friend curious so much that she had to scratch her head. It was strange for her to see De-Na-Lan run off from her to a stranger. Not only that, but she also acted like she did not want the man to leave…

Sigh!

"Of course, I'll stay for dinner, and then I'll be on my way." Zheng-Fu agreed to stay for dinner. He thought that it was not harmful to do so…

"Yay!"

De-Na-Lan shouted with joy when she heard Zheng-Fu's reply. But as she realized her behavior, she started to walk back to her friend with a warm face. She could see how her father and everyone looked at her now…

"Hahaha! Well, let's get inside then. I'll have my people prepare dinner for us." Long-Chun-Da rushed to invite everyone into his house as soon as he gained back his mind from the shock…

Then everyone started to move into the estate of the Long clan. De-Tong assigned Boss Tu to take care of the goods as usual. He then gave him some money to take the men out to treat themselves. It would be several days before they went back home…

So, everyone separated their ways. Long-Chun-Da and De-Tong talked deliciously while they were walking into the estate. Long-Chun-Da asked De-Tong about the details of the trip and several subjects because it had been a long time since they last met. Zheng-Fu followed the two of them quietly…

De-Na-Lan and her friend waited until their fathers and Zheng-Fu went into the estate area before starting to follow them. After walking into the estate for a while, her friend asked, "Girl! You must tell me who that man is. Why did you…?"

"What are you trying to say? There's nothing between me and him!" De-Na-Lan let out something that she was afraid her friend might ask when her friend had not. That was because her mind was somewhere else when she heard her friend's question…

"What!? I haven't said anything about you and him in that way. Why did you act like that? Come on. Tell me what's going on, girl." De-Na-Lan's friend poked her face up close to De-Na-Lan's while trying to tease her with Zheng-Fu with joy…

"You're crazy! I don't want to talk to you now," De-Na-Lan said while covering her ears out of shyness. She actually did not know what to say about Zheng-Fu because she had not even seen his face once. She did not even know anything about him. The only thing she knew was that he made her feel that she could trust him. He was also warm to her…

"Well… Looks like brother Gu-Bei's heart is going to be broken! You like someone else…" De-Na-Lan's friend continued to tease her because it was fun for her. Then she glanced at Zheng-Fu's back and fixed her gaze on him. She wondered who Zheng-Fu was and what he looked like…

Zheng-Fu heard every word the two young women said. Their girlie actions made him crinkle his eyebrows, but he did not mind them. So, he continued to follow De-Tong and Long-Chun-Da…

Not long after that, the five of them reached a big hall where the dinner was prepared. It was a dinner for six. The hall was guarded by four guards. There were also about ten high-level martial artists hiding themselves in the area for protection. Dinner would be served, and the guests would be assisted by a female helper at the table…

"Alright! Please take a seat, everybody!" Long-Chun-Da stopped at his seat and asked everyone to make themselves at home. De-Tong was assigned to sit next to Long-Chun-Da. Next to De-Tong were the two young women. Zheng-Fu was seated on the other side of the table, with another seat prepared for someone who was not there yet…

Rustle!

When everyone was seated, Long-Chun-Da coughed lightly and said, "I would like to welcome brother De-Tong, niece Na-Lan, and Master Fu-Zheng to the estate of the Long clan. As the leader of the clan, I have the pleasure of having brother De-Tong back at my house once again. I would like to thank Master Fu-Zheng for protecting him on the trip to this city.

Let's have this drink together, guys." Long-Chun-Da drank right after making a toast…

"Hah!"

"Wonderful! I'd like to drink to that too." De-Tong drank right after Long-Chun-Da. The two young women also drank their fruit juice…

"Hah!"

Everyone at the table drank their first drink, except for Zheng-Fu, who still held his cup in his hand. The rest of the table looked at Zheng-Fu and said nothing. They wondered why he did not joy the ritual…

"What's wrong, Master Fu-Zheng? Is it because…?"

"It's nothing. I have the habit of smelling my drink first. Judging from the smell, I bet it is a fine liquor. And it must be more than ten years old." Zheng-Fu drank as soon as he finished the explanation…

Gulp!

"Hah!"

"But it's too bad…"

Zheng-Fu let out an unfinished sentence and turned to look at something with a smile on his face…

"Too bad!?"

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